Process of manufacturing gasolene.



UNTTED sTATEs PATENT ernten.

ARTHUR D. SMITH, OF VINITA, OKLAHOMA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO JOHN T. MILLIKEN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING GASOLENE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dee. 9, 1919.

Original application led April 28, 1915, Serial No. 24,415. Patent No. 1,239,423, dated September 4, 1917. Divided and this application led October 16, 1915. Serial No. 56,223.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR D. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Yinita, in the county of Craig, State of Oklahoma, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Processes of Manufacturing Gasolene, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain improvements in the method of destructive distillation of higher boiling point compounds of petroleum and particularly distillates known to the trade as fuel oil or gas oil, having a boiling point of 500o F. and upward.

The invention claimed. herein is divided from that claimed in my application Serial No. 24,415, filed April 28, 1915, which deals with a novel method of distillation of the above described fuel oil, gas oil or distillates of paralin nature at pressure of 125 to 150 pounds and at a temperature of 600o to 7 00o F.

The object of this invention is to reduce the loss by evaporation of the lighter vapors from the condensate.

It has been noted that, however desirable is the method of applying pressure throughout the course of distillation to and while vapors are undergoing condensation, nevertheless a certain constant loss takes place through evaporation of the lighter gasolenes passing from the liquid to the gaseous state as the condensate flows from the end of the condensing coil to the receiving tank where it passes from high pressure to atmospheric pressure with great lowering of surface ten-4 sion; and I have discovered that this aforesaid loss may be reduced 'from forty to fty per cent. by keeping. not only the .vapors themselves under pressure to and while undergoing condensation, but the liquid condensate as well, relieving pressure in excess of 150 pounds only at the storage tank. I

allow the latter to nearly lill before removal of contents, and I blend the same immediately after removal from the tank with low gravity naphtha, thus entraining and fixing lighter portions of condensate .produced under` pressure and incorporating these compounds to a large extent as a permanent part of the final crude gasolene so that subsequent evaporation is reduced to a minimum.

Further details of the invention appear in connection with the following description of' sents the apparatus partly in vertical'longitudinal section, and partly'in side elevation.

Referring to the drawing, the gas oil, fuel oil or paraliin residue is charged from a. storage tank 10 by a pump 11, through the pipe line l2 to a boiler or still, which may be of anysuitable type. The still shown in the drawing consists of the drum or shell 13 which is mounted in a suitable setting over the furnace 14 with its longitudinal axis at a slightly downward inclination from front to back. Nipples or connections 15 open into the bottom of the shell at its front and back ends and these nipples are connected to the tube boxes or headers 16 which are arranged at 4the front and back ends of the furnace chamber. A series' of parallel tubes 17 connect the headers, and the tubes and headers are arranged at a considerable upward inclination from back'to front below the boiler shell in the path of eter 24. An outlet pipe 25 'for residuum leads from the lower end of thepback header 16, and is normally closed by a valve 26. Within the boiler are arranged a series of revolving brushes 27, which may be made of steel wire or other metal capable of withstanding heat and corrosion. The brushes are operatively connected together with driving chains arranged within the boiler, and the rear brush is mounted on a shaft which passes through a stuiing box in the side of the boiler and is provided with a pulley 2'8 `on its outer end. `The Pulley 28 is belted'to va pulley on the line shaft 29 whereby the series of brushes may be rotated at a suitable speed. The brushes are rotated in the direction shown by the arrows in the drawing, thereby assisting in maintaining the circulationin the still, and also sweeping' the bottom :of the boiler shell free from the carbon which has a tendency to deposit and accumulate therein during theoperation of the` apparatus. Preferably the drum or shell 13 has a large capacity in proportion to the capacity of the tubes. The angles of inclination of the drum, tubes and ot-her parts of the still are not restricted to those shown in the drawing. The mechanical agitation of the liquid in the drum by the sweeping action of the brushes facilitates rapid circulation and assists in preventing deposition of carbon in the apparatus. It is understood that the arrange ment of parts shown in the drawing is only a typical arrangement of one form of still, and that it can be varied according to requirements for propercirculation, type of boiler or still used, or greater or less tendency of the carbon to deposit. Any suitable arrangement of brushes may be used to assist circulation and to sweep the metal surfaces clean.

As the suspended carbon accumulates, a portion of the liquid contents of the boiler is withdrawn at intervals, for instance every thirty minutes, through the residuum outlet 25 to the filter 30 where it is passed through fullers earth, spent bone char, or product of similar nature and thereby made free from carbon. The distillate is drawn ofi the bottom and returned by the pump 11 through the pipe line l2 into the boiler 13, together with such fresh distillate from the tank l0 as may be necessary to take the place of the gas oil freed into the lighter hydrocarbons.

The filters 30 may be of any convenient size and number, and are provided with suitable stop cocks 31 so that those not being1 charged may be in process of preparation when those in use become clogged with carbon and are no longer efficient. The -ltering process being thus intermittent renders the process as a whole continuous.

The vapors lea-ving the vapor line 21 are condensed in the coil 32 of the condenser 22, and fall as liquid condensate into a condensing tank 33. The same pressure is maintained ,in the condensing tank as throughout the remainder of the system. Any eX- cess of pressure above 150 pounds on the system is relieved by the' relief valve 34.

When the condensing tank is nearly full,

its contents may be Withdrawn without relieving the pressure through the valve 35 and mixed immediately with low gravity naphtha, thus iixingv the lighter hydrocarbons which hitherto have been allowed to escape in apparatus wherein the condensate receiving tank has been' kept at atmospheric pressure.

This invention is not restricted to the precise temperatures, pressures and times set forth above, nor to the apparatus shown and described.

I claim the following as my invention:

l. The process of producing crude gasolene by continuous distillation under pressure which comprises maintaining constant circulation in the still under a pressure of 125 to 150 pounds, and maintaining said pressure on the vapors to and while undergoing condensation and also on the liquid condensate in the receiving tank, said pressure being maintained until a considerable quantity of the said condensate has accumulated, then drawing off a portion of said condensate and blending itimmediately with low gravity naphthas to prevent loss of the lighter gasolene fractions.

2. The process of producing crude gasolene which consists in distilling the liquid portions of the paraffin series having a boiling point 500o F. or above and known fa'- miliarly as gas oil or fuel oil at a pressure from about 125 to 150 pounds and at a teniw perature ranging from about 600 to 700O F. while maintaining rapid circulation in the still in such a manner that objectionable carbon deposits are prevented, and maintaining said pressure on the vapors to and while undergoing condensation and also on the liquid condensate in 'the receiving tank and immediately mixing the condensate with low gravity naphtha without relieving the pressure, whereby the lighter hydrocarbons in the condensate are fixed.

3. The process of producing crude gasolene which comprises effecting rapid circulation in the still, maintaining the vapors undergoing condensation and the condensate at the same pressure as the still, and imme- -the condensate are xed.

Signed at Vinita,

O b kl., this`8th day of cto er, '1915.

ARTHUR D. SMITH.' 

